


the line where sky meets sea

by princedamianos (cuteashale)



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Brotherly Angst, Comfort/Angst, Family Feels, Gen, it's me having 40 emotions about kastor in 800 words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23811289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuteashale/pseuds/princedamianos
Summary: The sky above is crystal clear, not a cloud in sight. Sea birds caw, dipping out of view to the left. A big one, darker than the others, dives toward the waves faster than the eye can follow. Moments later it shoots back into the sky, a struggling fish gripped between its talons. The sea crashes against the cliffs, swallowing the cries of the birds unlucky enough to miss out on a meal.
Relationships: Damen & Kastor (Captive Prince), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	the line where sky meets sea

**Author's Note:**

> listen........I'm just an emotional disaster regarding Damen and Kastor at all times. it makes me SAD it didn't have to BE THIS WAY! [horrible wailing noises]
> 
> anyway, enjoy this. it hurt me to write it.
> 
> (yes the title is from a moana song)

The sky above is crystal clear, not a cloud in sight. Sea birds caw, dipping out of view to the left. A big one, darker than the others, dives toward the waves faster than the eye can follow. Moments later it shoots back into the sky, a struggling fish gripped between its talons. The sea crashes against the cliffs, swallowing the cries of the birds unlucky enough to miss out on a meal.

“You aren’t thinking of jumping, are you?”

Damen turns at the sound of that voice, the wind whipping his curls across his face. “No,” he answers. “Not here.”

A blond brow quirks. The wind has pulled wisps of hair from Laurent’s braid and they flutter at his neck and across his forehead. “Then where?”

Damen takes a step backward toward the cliffs. Laurent doesn’t move but his eyes dart down to Damen’s feet, calculating the distance between them and the edge. Turning, Damen faces the sea again. The only respite from the heat is the wind gusting beneath his chiton. This high, the cool ocean spray cannot reach him.

“There’s a spot,” he says, “down there. Kastor and I used to leap from it when we were children.” Lately, speaking his brother’s name brings about a new ache. First it was sorrow, then rage. Now it’s something like nostalgia, dripping in melancholy.

“Show me,” says Laurent. It should be a question but it doesn’t sound like one. Still, Damen turns to him and walks away from the cliffs.

They walk together, Damen’s sandal-clad feet picking their careful way across the rock path. Laurent is only a step behind him, boots crunching against the soil. The journey is not a long one; within minutes they arrive at the spot where, years ago, Damen and Kastor raced to be the first to jump.

The grass is longer here and cool where it brushes his legs. Damen stands in the shade of the cliff above them and looks out across the water. “Here,” he says, a faint smile on his lips. “We used to race each other up here when we were young. The first one to jump and swim to shore got to brag to Father. Kastor was older but I was faster. He would count to three but jump on two – he always wanted to beat me.”

“Did he?”

“Sometimes,” Damen answers. He sits, close to the edge, with his legs dangling off the side of the cliff. “I remember the first time he didn’t. I was sixteen, I think. We jumped at the same time but I dove farther. The currents were in our favor. It felt like the sea was pushing me to land. I reached the shore, elated, and saw that Kastor was behind me. When he reached me, I thought he would congratulate me, like I always had him. Instead, he was furious.”

“He shoved past me and didn’t speak to me for the rest of the day.” Damen frowns. His fingers pull a blade of grass from the earth and tear it to pieces. “I couldn’t understand his anger.”

“He was jealous,” Laurent says. “Of your ability. Your skill.”

Damen is quiet. Laurent is right. How foolish he was, not to see it. How could his love for Kastor blind him so?

Damen’s question, when it comes, is spoken into the wind. “Is that why he did what he did?”

For a long time, Laurent is quiet. Damen looks to him. He sits, also, weight resting on his palms as he leans back. He isn’t as close to the edge as Damen is, the heels of his boots just barely touching the crumbling rock of the cliff face.

“It does no good to dwell on questions that can’t be answered,” says Laurent finally. “Your mind can only spin in so many circles before it loses its way.”

Damen leans forward to put his elbows on his knees and look down at the sheer drop into cobalt waters. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Laurent’s hand twitch slightly, as if to reach for him.

“Damen.”

Damen lifts his eyes to the horizon. Here, where they are closer to the water, the wind carries the salt of the sea. Damen tells himself it’s that salt causing his eyes to sting. “We shouldn’t jump today,” he says after a while. “The waves are too high.” He looks out past the rocks close to shore and the foam capped waves crashing against them. “A storm is coming.”

“Another time,” says Laurent, in a tone Damen hears rarely. A hand comes to rest on his shoulder, its familiar weight a comfort. “Come. Let’s walk back together. Before the rain.”

Damen nods. He opens his hand and the blade of grass he holds flutters, caught by the wind, and is carried out to sea.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you SO much for reading, especially if this hurt you like it hurt me. leave me a kudo or comment please! and come chat on [tumblr](http://princedamianos.tumblr.com)


End file.
